Vanguard Vol I The Beginning
by Elkcubra
Summary: As three young heroes attempt to survive to the next day, each in their own manner, their paths cross at a single connecting event... One that might mean the survival of not only themselves, but any of whom they care about. Book 1 in the Vanguard Arc.
1. Prologue: Spiderboy

**Alright guys, before we begin, this story is the combined work of three different authors. The first is myself, along with the help of my good friend Aros 13, and a new author I will simply address as K for security reasons. And before I get a comment about it, yes my character is from Heroes United. Assume it's an Alternate Dimension or something.**

**Basically, if any of you have read the "Heroes of Olympus" by Rick Riordan (Highly Recommend read I might add, I thoroughly enjoyed it) it will be the same style. The first is my character, followed by Aros's, and K's brings up the rear, and the cycle will continue for each novel. A separate story houses bios for each character, uploaded at the same time they appear in the series. A code is included for each one, and you may copy and paste it onto the Hero Machine Generator 2.5 at hero machine's website (simply google it). **

**Now, without further ado, I present "Vanguard Vol. I: The Beginning".**

The sky was clear and the sun shone down on the city. At least that's what Will was wishing the day was like. The truth was that it was pouring down rain, not a speck of blue was in the sky, lightning was flashing around, and he was at the top of the tallest building in Manhattan: The Empire State Building.

This building was a top tourist destination in New York, but none of them were viewing it like he was. No one even could, not really anyway. No one saw it like he did, because they were always behind the safety of glass, some leaning against the glass as far as they could.

Truthfully, Will was too. The difference was which _side_ of the glass he was leaning on, because when Will looked down, he didn't see a bunch of tiles beneath his feet. He just saw open air, and the ground several tens of stories below.

Now, it definitely wasn't the most preferable of weather circumstances, especially considering his current elevation. Sadly, there was no real option. When you needed a bird's eye view of Manhattan, this was where you went. And when you needed to be able to leap at a moment's notice (without breaking a window that is), you stood on the outside… at least, you did if you were Will.

Will looked down at his suit, glad he had decided to waterproof during the design phase. The Red Spider Sign on his torso glowed faintly in the gloom and he turned his attention back to the streets.

Why was he in a suit you might ask? And why on top of the Empire State Building?

The truth was that Will was the local vigilante. It used to be his dad. That was where he got his powers from in the first place. That is until he died.

Yup. His Father was Peter Benjamin Parker, known to the rest of the superhero world as Spiderman. At least, he _had_ been known as Spiderman. Now he was "That guy we used to see that now lives six feet under".

His father had been tentative about letting him loose as a vigilante, fearing for his safety. However, once his father passed it quickly became evident that someone needed to step up.

In short, he designed a new costume, built a few gadgets, stopped a robber or two, and that was that. It really wasn't all that hard (Save the looks he got at the cash register when he walked up to buy a sewing machine).

And now he was here: On top of the tallest building in the nation, outside the glass, with a lightning storm all around him. Just perfect.

In any case, it was at that moment that Will caught a flash of blue and red down below: a police car in the middle of a chase.

He leaped off the building, flipping in the air as he did so, and he fell, arms at his sides, heads first, and only 2 mere stories before hitting the ground, he shot a web from the device concealed beneath his glove and swung from the nearest building.

He was moving quickly now, more quickly than most people would ever dream to (short of a jet plane that is). Within seconds he had the thieves in his sights and was zeroing in on them. He shot over the police car and landed directly on top of the fleeing criminals (or at least their vehicle).

The car swerved as the pair inside attempted to throw him off, but it was no use. He had a small electromagnetic field holding him on, and the roof of the car would have to rip off the vehicle in order for him to be taken off unwillingly.

A single punch and his fist broke through the full, grabbed the steering wheel, and spun it off of a bridge. He caught onto the side of a building with a web and halted the vehicle's descent. He threw the robbers out of the car and tied them to a streetlight.

It was then that the bullets started raining down. He had just finished stopping the crime, and when he turned around, the police were shooting at _him_.

"I'm offended, thanks for asking," he muttered, and leaped off the car, swinging underneath the bridge and hiding there.

This tactic worked for approximately 45 seconds. 46 was when the Helicopter came. 46 was when Will began swinging for dear life, because the copter was giving chase. Some gratitude would have been appreciated.

Will swung through building after building, eventually leaping into the old bell tower of an abandoned church his father had shown him once and waited as the copter passed by.

After it left, he climbed out and gazed at the nearest clock. 11:52 was what it read. 11:52 was when the explosion down the road occurred. 11:52 was when his life would change for good.


	2. Prologue: Echost

**This is the second section of the prologue, and the first written by Aros. Enjoy the introduction to our second author and character!**

A low rumble from the flashing storm outside barely vaguely shook Jakob's bleach-white cell. Of course for him, the sound magnified ten times over, nearly blasting his eardrums off. He'd strangely grown used to it by now. Each miniscule vibration of sound he could hear meant another success to the researchers' experiments. Jakob's life was never a very happy one…Well, at least, not since the Revive.

He turned over in his bed, uncomfortable still with the fact that everything he'd known and loved back home was gone forever. His memory was still very fuzzy on the topic, but he could still imagine the cobblestone streets, the marketplace, and the tobacco plantations he'd once visited before making that fatal sea voyage. Even though several of the scientists couldn't understand it, nobody could argue with the facts. Jakob was born in 1784.

The memory was still as vivid now as it had been experiencing it. He had been born in the original 13 Colonies and grew up with his father and sister. Through a long list of circumstances, their mother lived back in Great Britain.

When Jakob had turned 15, he was able to persuade his father to finally go see Mother in Europe. However, due to drastic navigational errors, the ship had journeyed into Northern territory where Jakob had been lost in the icy waves of the storm…

Every boom of thunder made Jakob shudder in his cell (no matter how many times the scientists called it a "containment unit", he knew it was a cell). Every boom of thunder brought back memories from that fateful night on the raging seas.

The doors of his "containment unit" swished open as two armored guards stepped into the room. A deep voice ordered him to come with them. "Well, I don't really have another option, do I?" he replied smugly.

The guards walked on either side of him the whole time, each one grasping his forearm in case he got the idea to surprise them, run off, navigate the maze of twisting hallways (with each one looking exactly the same), avoid capture by force, and escape the Fort Knox security-heavy facility building before reinforcement troops arrived to give him to a torturous and slow death. Not too hard, right?

They arrived at a room nearly filled to the brim with crackling electrical machines and glass displays of designs and failed prototypes. There was a large one-way mirror on running the length of one wall. Jakob could watch kids down there play in the streets and even an occasional drug-deal, but saddened that they could never see him. He knew better. All the street-level people of Manhattan saw was an out-of-order, four story brick warehouse. They'd never imagine there was something so clean, sleek, and stimulating in here.

Jakob attention was drawn by a slap to the cheek. A scientist had knocked him out of his daze and ushered him to a new machine he hadn't seen before. But he had a feeling he knew exactly what it did.

Ever since these mind-sick researchers had found his body in one piece at the bottom of the ocean and brought him back to life, they'd been testing on him like a stupid rat. Apparently, they were trying to enhance the five senses of the human body. So far, they had already done experiments on his nose, mouth, hands, and ears. Of these four, only the hearing category had been successful. In fact, it'd been such a success that they'd injected the formula into his blood to see the effect. So far, nothing. Unfortunately, now everything a normal man considered a "tad bit loud" was excruciatingly painful for Jakob's ears. And now, it appears the scientists will try the last group of the senses: sight.

"Now, just get inside the pod, Jakob," one grimacing scientist tried to say with fake kindness. Despite the fact that Jakob could definitely take this guy down, he reluctantly obeyed, knowing the consequences if he didn't. According to small talk among the researchers, they could always torture him to death and simply revive Jakob if he disobeyed.

Jakob wasn't comforted by the idea of experiencing death any number of times. After being loaded up by the scientist lackeys, a lever was activated, signaling a spinning needle to drop from the top of the metallic pod.

"Wait," Jakob yelled, "what's the procedure again?"

"Don't worry. This needle will simply burrow into your eyes and inject a serum we've created. Then we replace your eyes with better ones with enhanced sight. That way-"

"What?" Jakob screamed. "I didn't agree to this!"

"Relax," the scientist said. "It might sting a bit but it will be over before you-"

That's when Jakob decided that it had to end. He slammed his foot into the door of the chamber and shattered to measly glass. He ran with fear past stunned researchers and pursuing guards. Jakob toppled various expensive machines he passed to slow down the armored men, but it wouldn't work.

In all the confusion, he neglected to actually watch where he was going. He turned back forward to see a wall too close for him to slow down or change direction. Jakob shut his eyes for the impact…although none came. He took a slight glance and shocked himself to see that he was on the other side of the wall!

Jakob stopped, too stunned to keep going, but was too slow to realize the armored guards approaching him and stabbing him with an electrical-tipped spear. Jakob fell to his knees as they picked him up by the arms again. Jakob was crying by the time the head of the facility came up to them. "Please," Jakob pleaded, "I just want to live a normal life. Why do you keep me confined here?"

"Because you owe your life to us! We cheated death, and you owe it to us to do our bidding. Besides…" The Head smirked. "…where would you go? You don't even have a family anymore." And so, the Head had struck the final nerve Jakob kept hidden deep inside him.

With fury in his eyes, Jakob screamed. But not an average "I-hate-you" scream, no. This was so much better. The force behind the shriek blasted everything around them. Several people were blown back by the rippling power of his voice. Even out of the blasting range, scientists had to cover their ears and get down on their hands and knees to make the sound go away.

In the chaos of the moment, no one had noticed the electric-tipped spear as it was blasted away from Jakob to the very back wall, stabbing itself into a large canister labeled as _Nitroglycerin: Use at your own risk_, ensuing a chain reaction of detonation. And nearly all of Manhattan could hear the resulting explosion that occurred at precisely 11:52, even those as far away as the abandoned church bell tower…


	3. Prologue: X22

**12:30****: Corpus Christi, TX **

A man ran out into a small clearing in the middle of the woods. His clothes were torn, his face and arms were covered in scratches, and he had the terrified look of an animal being hunted. He stood there panting, when he heard a rustling in the trees above him. Quickly drawing his gun he fired like a maniac into the trees. A blue jay fell from its perch, but nothing else.

The man heard a twig snap to his right. He whipped his head around and froze. He had run out of ammo. He slowly started to creep out of the clearing, just when a low growl was heard from the same place the twig had snapped.

The man broke into a run for the edge of the clearing, right into a pair of outstretched arms. They quickly, cleanly snapped his neck and he dropped to the ground. A girl stepped out into the moon light. It gleamed off of her blue and black uniform as she gazed down at the man's lifeless body, her eyes glowing faintly with a bright green. She pressed a finger into her right ear and said, " Thema ist beendet. Ich erwarte Ihre Anweisung. (Subject is terminated, I await your instruction)"

A voice replied, " Sehr gute X-22. Zurück zu seinem Haus, und finden Sie die Pläne, dass er von uns gestohlen hat. Dann zerstören Sie die anderen Wissenschaftler, die an dem Projekt arbeiten und erfassen Sie ihrer Entstehung zu. Es wurde von unseren Plänen deshalb unser Eigentum. Sie wissen, was mit dem Körper zu tun." "(Very good X-22. Return to his home and find the plans he stole from us. Then destroy the other scientists working on the project and capture their creation. It was created by our plans therefore it is our property. You know what to do with the body.)"

The girl removed her finger and turned to the body. She slung it over her shoulder and carried it to a cliff shoreline. After the body was dumped on to the rock near the edge the girl went to work. She broke his leg, his wrist, and his nose. Finally, X-22 stood and nudged the body off of the cliff with her foot. It landed on the rocks below sprawled at a peculiar angle. It looked like he had slipped and fallen off, and then broke his neck on the rocks, Which is exactly what X-22 wanted it to look like it. She stood on the edge of the cliff surveying her work.

"I'm getting tired of this. I never wanted to kill. I still don't, but I can't just stop. They would kill him if I stopped. They would make me kill him… make me kill my own father."

She heard a shout and saw that a small fishing boat had discovered the body. She berated herself for her lack of attention. She didn't have much time, the police would be at the house soon, and if she failed in her assignment... X-22 shoved the thought away.

"Focus Keli, focus." she thought to herself. HYDRA had tried to keep her name hidden from her, but she had found out what it was soon enough. The man's house was coming up ahead, a small, sea blue house with white edging, inconspicuous enough.

Keli stopped and inhaled deeply: salt water on the breeze, gasoline, car exhaust, the neighbors down the street had tacos for dinner, and a little boy a street over had wet the bed. Then she finally caught the generic scent of HYDRA.

It led away from the house, to the north east. It was very far away, somewhere in New York. There were cardboard boxes inside. The man had been running from Keli for a while. This was the fifth place he had moved to. Keli placed her finger in her ear again and reported the plan's absence. "Finden sie, (Find them.)" were the only orders she received. Keli jumped into the sky and flew away to the northeast as a police car pulled up right where she had been standing.

**3 Days Later**

Keli, in the guise of a normal New Yorker,followed the scent of HYDRA through grocery stores, winding through alleyways, and around apartment buildings. The scent was getting stronger as she got closer. She took a deep breath and over the smell of a group of the homeless, the HYDRA plan's smell practically slapped her in the face. It was coming from a shadowed doorway to a shabby, decrepit, apartment building.

Keli started forward but the homeless who's stench was nearly drowning out the plan's stood threateningly. She continued forward as they closed in around her. They observed each other cooly as the circle tightened. Then without warning Keli attacked. One strike and two men crumpled to the floor. Another one aimed a swing at her, she blocked it and after a few quick jabs and his arm was limp at his side. It was quickly followed by a clip to the temple and his body joined the others. He was followed by two more. The last attacker charged, Keli placed her fist on his forehead and her admantium claws came shooting out the back. His lifeless form crumpled on top of the others.

After wiping her claws on his shirt, (it was his blood after all) she used her power over the element earth to make a depression in the ground. The bodies were lowered in. She covered it with a sheet of earth, an invisible grave. She then proceeded through into the dilapidated apartment complex and found a solid steel wall, unyielding.

"Well," she said, "if you can't find a door, you make one." and with that Keli slashed at the wall with her claws. The metal parted like liquid before them, in a few swipes a door was made. "Really, if you're trying to hide a top secret project in a top secret lab, you're making this way too easy, but then again what chance did they have against me?" she thought to herself.

Keli entered a long steel hallway lined with doors. She closed her eyes and took a deep whiff. The plans were in the next corridor over, third door on the right, she took another deep breath, a new smell entered her nose. Dusty, like the old pages of a book, sharp, chemical (like the lab she was in), and electric, this was a powerful one indeed. Though there was also a faint hint of… yes. That was chocolate. "Smells like a nice guy," she thought, "Too bad I have to condemn him to a life of misery." Keli's eyes snapped open, there was fighting going on a few floors down. The experiment! It was fighting back! This amazed her in many ways. Didn't it have some sort of punishment over its head? The loss of a loved one perhaps? Or an incredible dosage of pain at the least?

Keli snapped back into focus, the fighting had stopped, and someone was coming up in the elevator right in front of her. She made a leap to the ceiling and using her mutant abilities, held herself up there with air. Two guards were manhandling someone down the hall, a boy around Keli's age with dark blue hair. One sniff confirmed it: Dusty chocolate. The experiment. They dragged him down the hall and into a room on the right of her.

As soon as the door sealed shut Keli dropped from the ceiling and pressed her ear to the door. Through the steel she heard a man yelling at someone, blows landed on someone and then, the world shattered into a million pieces. Keli tumbled through the air, across Manhattan, through a billboard and landed in the Hudson.

Dazed she swam to the bank, coming up under a bridge. As soon as she was out of the water HYDRA attacked. Red electricity coursed through her body as a terrible voice screamed through her head, "Sie haben nicht! ( You have failed!)"

Through the painful red haze Keli responded, "Es war eine Explosion, es war nicht meine Schuld! (There was an explosion, it was not my fault!)"

HYDRA sent another painful jolt of electricity through her before replying, "Es gibt keine Entschuldigungen für Ihre Inkompetenz! ( There are no excuses for your incompetence!)" There was a long pause before the voice replied,"Sie wissen, was dies bedeutet X-22. (You know what this means X-22.)"

"Nein, nein ich werde es nicht tun! ( No, no I won't do it!)" There was another surge of electricity. "Gehorchen Sie mir nicht! Sie haben in Ihrer Mission versagt und Sie wissen die Folge im Ort! Sie werden es tun, auch wenn ich Sie einen Stromschlag, bis Sie Zoll vom Tod sind! Ich bin Ihr Meister, und werden Sie wie gesagt! ( Do not disobey me! You have failed in your mission and you know the consequence in place ! You will do it, even if I have to electrocute you until you are inches from death! I am your master and you will do as I say!)" This was followed by the most powerful strike of electricity yet. Keli crumpled to the ground, hands locked around her head where the pain was originating: there was a microchip in her head, and if she could rip out the controlling part, then they would have no power over her.

"Nein, Nein, niemals, (No, no, never.)" she gasped through clenched teeth. The pain redoubled and redoubled as she kept repeating, "Nein, Nein, niemals, (No, no never.)" until she was at maximum dosage. Suddenly she thought of her father, her mother (X-23), Jonah (x-24), and Keli felt a strength that she had never felt before.

She used her air powers to reach into her mind and grab hold of the controls, then as a final act of defiance she stood trembling from the pain, saying: "Sie besitzen mich nicht HYDRA! (You do not own me HYDRA!)" and tore the controls out. The pain instantly vanished.

Weakened by the electricity and the explosion she sank to the ground. She was surrounded by river plants. Keli knew that they would send someone after her, but now she felt too tired to even blink. The last thing she thought before drifting away was: "I am free."


	4. Chapter One: Spiderboy

Will leapt out of the building at top speed, knowing full well that a resulting shock-wave could destabilize the entire structure. It wasn't very stable to begin with, but with that kind of an explosion to boot…

In any case, he had two choices. Investigate the explosion and assist in evacuation (The police didn't like him, but they cooperated at times of need), or go investigate the murder of a couple hobos. He had seen that happen down the street, but had been swinging for his life from a helicopter, and didn't get to reach them (or their killer). In the end, it was an easy choice.

The explosion had originated from an abandoned lab on the other side of town, which was made obvious by the ever-present news broadcasters. The nameplate above the building read "OSCORP", whatever that meant. No one had seen a soul enter or exit that building for years. Strangely enough, it hadn't been torn down either.

He landed by the police chief (the only cop present in Manhattan that wouldn't arrest him), and turned to the laboratory.

"What're we looking at Chief?" he asked, and the chief didn't look at him when he responded, nor did he hesitate before doing so.

"Chemical readings are showing traces of Nitroglycerin in the air. No screams are audible, but there's an entire network of underground labs we have to check. Unfortunately, our equipment can lift a load that heavy."

"I'm on it," Will replied evenly. He ran up to the nearest debris and lifted the material, with a small amount of struggle, out of his way. A passage lay under it, and after setting the wreckage down behind him, he made his way inside.

He took turn after turn, hallway after hallway. It would take hours to search this place, even with an entire police department. Will was pretty sure that the original building plans hadn't included these catacombs.

In any case, what would be difficult for the average human was a simple task for Will, who quickly slipped into one of his more Explorer-oriented powers: Night Vision. Not especially useful in combat, but helpful all the same.

He searched every room, leaving a trail of web fluid behind him whenever he entered a passage. He was no use to anyone if he got lost down here.

He searched every nook and cranny of each room, calling out into the darkness to see if anyone was down there, but there was no answer. Unfortunately, they could easily be unconscious, in which case a lack of response was not unprecedented. He was just about to leave for the next corridor when a noise sounded out behind him.

Will whirled around, searching the darkness around him for signs of movement. "Hello?" he called out. "Is someone there?" Silence. All around him was nothing but silence.

He was just about to dismiss it for lack of sleep when the noise came again, louder this time. There was no doubt now. Something was down here, but it didn't _want_ to be found.

Will tapped the insignia on his chest and the glow of it diminished continually, until the spider on his chest was as black as the rest of his suit. Now it was pitch. Whatever was down here, he was ready. He could see, but it was doubtful that the enemy could. Tactical planning. It could mean the difference between Life and Death.

Will leapt onto the ceiling and crawled along, knowing full well that whatever he was going against was still thinking of him as easy prey: An officer, or maybe even a citizen. There were only two options of what it could be now. Either some experiment gone wrong had caused this explosion, or a criminal had in its place. Neither option was pretty for Will.

He continued down the hallways, and after a while he caught a glimpse of something in the corridor. It was human shaped, easily, but it was holding some kind of sword, with two Jet-Black blades instead of a single silver one, a razor-sharp weapon on each end of the hilt. Definitely not friendly.

Will continued on, moving towards the man quickly, but not so much that he blew his own cover. The lights were out, and while his night-vision was good for navigation, making out features from a distance was difficult to say the least. For all he knew, this was some human-animal hybrid. It had happened before anyway.

He followed the man through every hall, around every turn, down every flight of stairs, and it soon became evident that the guy was as lost as Will himself was.

He was just about to make his presence known when the man stopped. A light came on in the room, illuminating both of their faces, though Will's was covered in a mask. The man was actually a kid, no older than 16, but his hair was blue and spiky, and his clothes were a similar material to Will's own suit, just blue in color. A mask covered most of the boy's face, but his eyes glowed green, like a radiation facility.

The boy narrowed his eyes, pulled down the mask, and let loose the largest most ear-splitting scream Will had ever heard. Will's concentration broke, and with it went his magnetic field (and his eardrums).

He fell to the ground and was just struggling to his feet when the flash of a sword, jet-black in color and twice as deadly as the average weapon, moved straight towards his head. Today was going to be a _long_ day…


	5. Chapter Two: Echost

Jakob lifted the debris that had fallen on him with a struggle, but was finally able to pull himself free. He looked around the corridor, lost, and hung his head in disappointment…and then he noticed his sudden change of clothes. Jakob was shocked to find a skin-tight suit melded onto his body (especially since he never recalled doing a wardrobe change). It had black and dark blue colors that alternated with every crease and fold. His boots and gloves had the same look and his hair had darkened into a navy blue as well, but it was his skin that surprised him the most. His skin had actually turned gray, giving him a sort of undead look.

Jakob finally noticed the smoke that had begun to curl around him and used a part of a gray bandanna clutching his neck to shield his mouth. In all the ruckus going on around him, he couldn't help but hear footsteps rushing down the hallway. _Can't let the scientists capture me again,_he thought.

He took hold of a pitch-black, double-bladed sword (one blade on each side of the hilt) fallen next to his feet in case he had to fight and ran the opposite way. Clearly, the figure was gaining on him. Jakob began to wonder if this guy had better speed than normal. Finally, he had no choice but to go on the offensive.

The man…or as Jakob realized, the boy came into view. He was wearing a pitch-black suit and mask and a red spider-like insignia on the chest. Before the boy could apprehend him, Jakob decided to repeat the misfortune that caused this in the first place. He lowered the bandanna and shrieked. Once again, the force blew the enemy back down the hallway and Jakob turned around to leave.

Suddenly, he felt something small touch his shoulder. He saw a small string of…spider thread, perhaps?...and wondered how it got there. Until he noticed what was on the other end. The boy jerked on the web to launch himself forward and knocked Jakob square in the jaw. "You realize that resisting means I have to take you in," the boy said.

"Who are you? Some sort of 'Spider-Boy'?" Jakob guessed as a portion of the blazing ceiling collapsed between them.

"Oh, so you've heard of me…" Spider-Boy said. The boy threw…no, shot from his wrists…two spider threads just like the first one to the opposite walls and pulled them down to collapse on Jakob. He shut his eyes and braced himself for the crumbling rock…but nothing came. Jakob opened his eyes slowly to discover that the rocks had crashed down after all…The catch, however, was that the rocks had fallen through/in him! He frantically waved his hands around. They were going _through_the wreckage.

Still fueled with rage, he ran forward (yes, through the debris) once more and tackled a very startled opponent. "_Oof…_What…are you supposed to be anyway?" Spider-Boy asked upon impact. Jakob hefted him up by the throat.

"You don't know who I am?"

"Uhh, the Phantom of the Opera?" the boy mused. Unfortunately, Jakob didn't find it funny. He tossed him aside into a crumbling wall. The slam ripped a mask off the boy's head, forcing him to shield his face with his palms. Jakob bent down and picked it up gently.

"What is this?"

"That is the maaask I wear…" the Spider-Boy sang in a tune reminiscent of _Phantom of the Opera._ Jakob stared at it before the other one shot a quick thread at it and pulled it back.

"Why do you wear a mask?" Jakob questioned. Spider-Boy quickly jerked the midnight-colored mask on.

"Umm, let's see. One: I'm kind of a wanted vigilante. Two: I can't really have people knowing my identity. And three: I don't want a mob of girls following me everywhere I go because of my rugged good looks." Ignoring reason number three, Jakob went on.

"You mean…you're _not_trying to capture me again?" The boy thought a moment.

"Forgive me if I have a fuzzy memory, but did I ever capture you a first time? I don't think I would have forgetten that kind of hair-do," he replied, gesturing to Jakob's insanely spiky and steel blue hair.

Finally, Jakob decided to forget this guy and keep running. Looking over his shoulder, he watched Spider-Boy dodge an erupting flame and leap out of a window. Jakob maneuvered through the burning wreckage and knew what he had to do. He charged through the corridor to the far back wall and aimed for it. He closed his eyes and thought _Focus, Jakob…Concentrate…My body WILL go through. I WILL repeat what happened back there…_

He opened his eyes again to see the oncoming wall and put on a last burst of speed. Time slowed to a crawl for Jakob. First, his hands went through…then his arms and legs…then his head and torso…The next thing he knew, Jakob had reached the other side of the wall. He felt so exhilarated and glad he'd escaped until he noticed that the corridor he'd been running was on the fourth floor.

Jakob instantly began to plummet to the concrete. Just as he passed the second floor, however, a small rope lassoed around his leg and ceased his fall. Looking up at his leg, he realized it was of the same material as the webs Spider-Boy had used. Looking farther up above his leg, he saw the obsidian-black suit at the edge of a rooftop slowly pulling him up. "You're welcome!" Spider-Boy yelled down as he pulled against Jakob's weight.

"Quick question," he asked. "Just answer me this: what am I supposed to call you? The Echo Ghost? The Shrieking Spirit?" Jakob smiled.

"Sure. Echo Ghost…Echost, then," he muttered to himself and let his body go limp as Spider-Boy pulled him up, still going through names.

"The Bellowing Banshee. The…Screaming Specter. The…Call from the Crypt. Genius! Man, where do I come up with these?..."


	6. Chapter Three: X22

1:00, somewhere in the middle of Kansas

Keli stood in a field of wheat taller than she was, she was rigid, every sense straining for a sign of her attacker. The swaying golden stalks betrayed no sign of the HYDRA agent that was sent after her. Funny he could hide quite well for a big lion guy. Keli rotated slowly taking deep intakes of sent through her nose. Aha! There was the familiar hated scent. The iron smell of blood, the warm clingy scent of heat, this was a large man, but not large as in fat, large as in monstrous muscle, there was only a little taint of electricity, he was mainly muscle with little power, and underlying it all, was the sickly, burning scent of black licorice.  
Scourge, the man who had the mutant abilities of super strength and invulnerability. He also had long claws that could come shooting out over his fingernails up to four inches long, thus he was more of a lion than a man. Keli burned with anger at the thought of him, Scourge had been the one who hunted her down so that HYDRA could have their own weapon X. She still had nightmares about the time he chased her through the woods all night long.  
She turned to face him, and said, " We've been through this before  
Scourge, we fight, you lose, I get away," A sly, oily voice with a slight growl replied, " Maybe so but I always catch up eventually, and you only get away because I enjoy hunting you, and I let you go to make it last." "Awwwwwww! You enjoy spending time with me! How sweet! "Keli said in a mixture of sarcasm and baby talk. Scourge's eyes narrowed, "Cute. Real cute" Scourge curtly replied. "Awwwwwwww! You think I'm cute too! Stop it, your embarrassing me!" Keli gushed sarcasticly. Scourge growled and his eyes narrowed further. Keli smiled she knew that if she could get him riled up enough he would start making mistakes, mistakes that would let her escape. One more jab ought to do it. "Wait, no, it's your lack of hygiene that's embarrassing me." Scourge was furious, Keli could see it in his eyes, but then, he smiled. Keli was confused as Scourge started to laugh, and laugh, and laugh. "Ooooooh X-22, I know what you're doing, and it was working too, HYDRA warned me of your influence, but I really didn't believe them. This is going to be fun." He lowered into a crouch. Keli, realizing that her plan had failed did the only thing she could think of, she kicked a cloud of dirt in his face and ran.  
She could hear him closing in as stalks of wheat whipped her in the face. Suddenly Scourge was right behind her. He was going to catch her, she turned around and, the ground disappeared. Keli went spread eagled to slow her descent, Scourge was right above her but soon he would catch up. Thinking quickly she angled her body towards the cliff wall. When she was as close as she could get she slid out her claws into the rock and came to an abrupt stop twenty feet from the bottom. Sourge whizzed past her to the bottom, he wouldn't be down there for long. The jolt of the stop had dislocated both of her shoulders, pain burned a fiery trail along her arms and onto her neck.  
Keli gritted her teeth and yanked her arms out of the wall. The pain spiked and her arms screamed in protest, she was floating a few feet away from the canyon wall. She turned to face it and threw herself at it. Her shoulder slammed against the wall and a reassuring crack announced that her arm wasn't dislocated any more. She quickly tended to her other arm and then started scanning the canyon for any sign of Scourge. Keli had a hard time finding his scent because there was a lot of dust and no wind down in the canyon to make it easier. She saw something on the ground ahead and sped forward. A spread eagled hole in the ground showed where he had landed. But where was the lion-man? Her question was answered as something rammed her from behind. She slammed into the canyon wall, leaving a deep impression.  
She got up and whirled around, blood trickled into her eye from a cut on her forehead. There he was, crouched, ready to pounce, a leering smile fixed on his face. Keli felt anger boiling inside her as Scourge said, "Oh, so you do have powers, I thought HYDRA was pulling my leg. What's the matter, too scared to use them? Huh? Just like your mother was, just like Jonah was, remember what happened to them? Huh?" Keli knew he was turning her technique on her, but he didn't know the consequences. In a voice trembling with rage she said, "Do not speak of what you know nothing about." "Why, afraid that you're going to blow a breeze at me? That would be quite refreshing actually. What, afraid to do a little damage, X-22." Keli replied with a snarl, " Don't call me that, that is not who I am" Scourge smiled and said, "That's right, it's who you're going to become, X-22" That was the final straw, Keli tried to hold it in but her eyes started glowing and she lashed out with her mutant ability. "I AM NOT X-22!" she roared and her voice filled the canyon as the blasted Scourge backward with a burst of air, then a torrent of water, " MY NAME IS KELI AND I WILL NEVER GO BACK! " she catapulted Scorge into the sky with a fist of earth, "NEVER!" her scream turned into a mighty roar as first fire and then old metal farm equipment swirled around her and melded seamlessly into the unmistakable shape of a dragon. Keli roared her fury to the world and sent a fiery blast into the sky. As she passed Scourge, she snatched him with her claws and carried him higher, and higher with her powerful wings. When she was satisfied with the height, she threw him as hard as she could towards the earth, following was a huge, bright white, fireball. Scourge hit the ground with the force of a small bomb and then the fire ball hit leaving a thirty foot deep crater in the middle of a black field of ashes.  
Keli, no longer a dragon, walked over to the figure in the center of the crater as ash swirled around her boots. She nudged him with her toe and regretfully said, "I told you not to call me that." She levitates herself and the now unconscious Scourge out of the crater as red and blue flashing police lights came speeding over to the once wheat field.  
She dumped the body unceremoniously in some woods as she flew over Missouri. Keli stopped in midair to let an airplane pass by, as she waited, an idea struck. "Let's go to Manhattan, and finish this." she thought to herself as she flew off in towards New York.


End file.
